Replacing An Undemocratic, Top Down Right Bureaucracy With A Left One Simply Isn't Good Enough

The anti austerity social movement has decisively rejected the neoliberal financial approach that has plunged millions into abject poverty.

The social movement that was solidifying into an anti austerity socialist movement was reflected by the meteoric rise to power of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour party.

Everything that was a political reflection of neoliberal moneterist policies in the Labour movement is rapidly disintegrating.

As society polarises to the left and right with the centre ground collapsing the bureaucracy in both wings of the Labour movement has feigned to the left to protect it's vested self interest.

The old New Labour bureaucracy in the unions and the party apparatus have plotted and colluded with the establishment to undermine and ultimately unseat Jeremy.

They have leaked information to the establishment mainstream media to embarrass the democratically elected leader.They have complied with the manoeuvres of the establishment that led to the failed coup and the pitiful leaďership challenge in 2016.

Despite Jeremy's decisive victory in this election these elements never ceased their campaign to destabilize and overthrow the leadership.

The bogus anti-semitism campaign intensified, undemocratic organisational moves were made at the 2016 conference in an attempt by the right to keep control of the national executive committee. Resources were misdirected in the general election which could have meant the difference between winning and losing.

Most recently there has been the bureaucratic manoeuvre that attempted to foist an undemocratic voting system on the young Labour conference.

The most recent outrageous act has been the summery expulsion of professor Moshe Machover with no due process and therefore no natural justice.

If this situation had been confronted at an earlier stage this problem could have been behind us at this stage.

Instead, and quite incredibly, given what has happened and is still going on, the General Secretary of the Labour party, Iain McNicol is still in position.

As are the pretentiously named regional directors of the party. These are the individuals, whose lucrative salaries are paid for by our subscriptions as Labour Party and trade union members. These are the people who have presided over this shameful episode in Labour's history.

It was perhaps inevitable, with Jeremy being unexpectedly catapulted into the leadership position that initially the problem of an entrenched self serving bureaucracy could not be addressed. To begin with Jeremy had very few supporters at a parliamentary level. In the first instance there was only limited support from trade union bureaucracies. It would have been to much to confront the issue at that stage.

At the initial stage Momentum played a progressive role. To this day it plays a very progressive role in relation to electioneering.

After the disastrous setbacks at the 2016 conference momentum had clearly got it's act together and played a major role in making 2017 one of the best Labour party conferences in living memory. Major gains were made by the left.

However this has come at a price. Momentum leadership has ditched democracy and organised in a tight top down manner.

In addition to abandoning democracy the Momentum leadership has perpetually advocated appeasing and doing deals with the right wing. The abject failure to oppose the old New Labour elite at a parliamentary, trade union and party apparatus level is a recipe for disaster.

The extinguishing of democracy in Momentum is precisely the opposite, in practice, to the stated aims and objectives of the movement Jeremy Corbyn has been elected to lead. Part of our aims are supposed to be the democratization of the Labour Party.

At best the outcome of this approach of perpetual, unprincipled compromise, together with the adoption of top down undemocratic, unaccountable dictat will be to demoralise the supporters whose backing brought Corbyn to power and has so far kept him there.

If things do not change, the best that can be hoped for is the replacement of an out of touch right wing bureaucracy with an out of touch left wing bureaucracy.

Or as is most likely to be the case an unholy alliance of the two.

Only if enough of us stand up, get involved and go along to meetings, take up positions and take on the responsibility that goes with it, will things really begin to change.